In the business of processing nuts of various types, the de-shelling or cracking of a walnut shell, more specifically the black walnut, has presented a continual problem for many years. Further, with growth of demand, the need for a more efficient nut meat extraction system capable of high rates of production of walnut meat has increased.
Further, not all nuts are cracked or hulled in the same manner and, therefore, an apparatus applicable to one type of nut may be inappropriate or inefficient with respect to another type of nut.
Black walnuts, juglans nigra, have been particularly challenging for purposes of cracking, hulling and separation of the nut meat from the nut shell. Black walnuts are a native tree to North America. The fruit of that tree, the actual black walnut, is made of a non-splitting shell which is quite thick as compared to other nuts and houses a rich and nutritious nut meat.
The prior art, known to the inventor, is represented by U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,328 (2003) to Quantz et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,714 (2003) to Warmack, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,155 (1991) to Andrews, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,115 (1984) to Volk, Sr. which, however, is particular to the hulling of pistachio nuts. Some related mechanisms have been suggested for the peeling of certain varieties of seeds such as sunflower seeds as is reflected in WIPO application WO/2008/024036 to Aboras. U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,494 (2012) to Savage, show a high speed and high production nut cracker that is fed by conveyor to multiple cracking elements, such is more expensive and less efficient than the present invention and has more moving parts which could potentially break and call for more stringent maintenance. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,481,157 (2005) to Andreason, a similar design to that of the present invention is disclosed, but aspects of the cracking elements within the rotor and cracking walls differ extremely and the present invention is comprised of such cracking elements which provide more efficient, effective, and sound in delivery of high volume of hard-shelled nut meat at higher rates than what is deliverable by Andreason.
The Inventor has previously obtained a patent on a nut cracking invention for pecans, U.S. Pat. No. 8,601,942 to Dailey (2011). The present invention is similar in stature to that of Dailey but has incorporated multiple inventive cracking mechanisms which will allow for the more efficient cracking of the much harder shelled black walnut. None of the above structures or systems are however practical for the accomplishment of suitably efficient cracking or nut hulling, particularly without damage to the black walnut meat or mixing of the nut meat with the nut shells.
All of the above long felt limitations and needs of the prior art in the area of nut cracking and hulling are addressed by the instant invention which, it is noted, is equally applicable to the hulling of multiple types of walnuts and other hard-shelled nuts.